Alyssia Demetriou spared prison over Southend drugs gang

Alyssia Demetriou worked intermittently for a county lines operation known as the Cash Line, which trafficked kilos of heroin and crack cocaine from London to Southend.

Her boyfriend Luke Dunbar, 19, of Shenley Road in Waltham Cross, was the “line holder”, Basildon Crown Court was told.

That meant he possessed the drugs line and was responsible for marketing activities, taking orders and directing runners to make deliveries.

But when he made trips to Southend to check up on the runners, Demetriou took over his usual responsibilities.

When Dunbar was stabbed under mysterious circumstances, said her barrister, she again stepped into his shoes.

Text messages retrieved by Essex Police showed her using both her own phone and the drugs phone to communicate with the line’s runners.

“There’s money to be made, shops to hit,” she wrote in one message.

Then aged just 17, the messages also showed Demetriou, of Kingsway in Enfield, arguing with the line’s kingpin over late payment of her wages.

That kingpin was Keian Creary, jailed for 12 years over his role in the trafficking operation in July.

Cash Line kingpin Keian Creary was jailed for 12 years in July (Image: Essex Police)

He was described at his own sentencing hearing as an “aggressive” boss who allegedly put a bounty on a teenage runner’s head over a financial disagreement and was also found to have paid money to the person who stabbed Dunbar.

Both he and the Cash Line were linked to a north London organised crime group called the Get Money Gang (GMG), named in a 2017 court case as the second-most dangerous street gang in the UK.

But Judge Siew Loke, who has presided over all the Cash Line hearings, recalled Creary testifying at trial that Demetriou was not afraid of him at all.

“She is probably one of the few individuals who had the confidence to stand up to Mr Dunbar and Mr Creary,” she said.

“She seems to have been a bit of a pain, in that she kept nagging him for the money she was owed, so she was certainly doing it for the money.”

The Cash Line was in operation from at least April 2024 to September 2025, with Creary buying drugs by the kilogram for around £20,000, then selling them to addicts in 0.1 gram deals for £10 to £20.

Demetriou’s involvement only lasted around five weeks, said prosecutor Amelia Norman, but she nonetheless played “a significant role”.

“She is performing an operational function within a chain,” said the barrister.

Despite being only 17 at the time, Alyssia Demetriou was described as one of the only members of the Cash Line drugs gang willing to stand up to its kingpin, Keian Creary (Image: Charles Thomson)

Defence barrister Tom Edwards said his now 19-year-old client had experienced a difficult childhood, marred by drug use and domestic violence in the family home.

She signed up for a college course in the beauty industry in 2024, he said, but was then involved in a very serious car accident which required metal pins to be placed in her spine.

She now suffered from severe mobility issues, he said, in addition to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and insomnia.

Mr Edwards added that there had been a delay in charging Demetriou, which was the only reason she wasn’t being treated as a youth.

Judge Loke found Demetriou had played a significant role in the trafficking operation.

“It is quite plain from the texts that you were fully aware of the nature and scale of the operation,” she said.

“It was plain that you expected remuneration from holding the line and you directed runners.

“The messages show that you were not scared to be direct with your demands for payments.”

But, she added: “I accept that your role was purely as a line holder, under direction from Mr Dunbar when he had his trips to Southend.

“The evidence indicates that you held the line on and off.”

The sentence would have been three years and nine months, said Judge Loke, but guidelines required a reduction for Demetriou’s age at the time.

That brought it down to 32 months, from which a further 25% reduction was required for her guilty plea.

The final sentence was two years, suspended for 18 months.

Demetriou must complete 20 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service, a 12-month mental health treatment programme and observe a 9pm to 6am curfew for the next 12 weeks.